by Daniel Schorr

Christian Science Monitor

01//21/05

Washington these days feels a little like Moscow in Soviet times when the government routinely dispensed information to the public and the public routinely didn't believe it. The two main newspapers were the Communist Party organ, Pravda, (Truth) and the Soviet government organ, Izvestiya (News). People used to say, 'There is no Izvestiya in Pravda and no Pravda in Izvestiya.'

For three years our leaders told us that Iraq for sure had weapons of mass destruction ... well, pretty sure ... well, maybe. One war later, after scouring the countryside, the government admits that there weren't any such weapons.

If President Bush were to go on TV one of these days and say that Iran has developed a nuclear bomb, requiring American action, who would believe him? On a less momentous scale, who can believe TV news reports when they may turn out to be government-financed videos?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0121/p09s02-cods.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp